The last time is irrelevant. Just because it had 3 carriers doesnt take out the fact that it was a military exercice for military posturing. To send a message. Nations do that all the time, US, russia china, etc. Remember that trump ordered this months ago, right after being in office, when it knew little about the complexities of the korean peninsula. By now, he knows that there is no viable military option.
Yes, NK artillery is aimed at seoul, thats the main insurance against US/SK attack. IMO the possibility of NK firing a nuke at US/SK only exists if it is attacked with nukes or even a regime changing invasion. The china of today is totally diferent from the china of 1950, i cant even begin to mention the amount of diference. There are serious doubts that china would help NK if it attacks first, and there are doubts that it would help at all even if NK is attacked first. China has just way too much to lose.
I dont even know what the US generals and commanders say. They may say a lot but in the US, the US government has all the power to command the military, what matters is what it says and more important, the decisions it takes, not what the generals and commanders say.
"Nobody" ? says you. I didnt knew that you talk for all the people in this forum, specially those that dont post in this thread.
Ah, but the last time is not irrelevant. You see, Orthan, there are people in this world with critical thinking abilities who are able to draw conclusions from trends. For example, people who search for oil would think, "When's the last time I saw these geological indicators? That time, was there oil or was there not?" Economists think, "Last time, this happened, what happened next? Did the economy recover or did it lead to a depression?" Doctors think, "Last time we saw this happen to a patient, did he recover or did he die?" And they learn and improve from what they saw the last time so they can predict the likelihood of what would happen next time they saw the same thing. In Korea, when was the last time you saw the US react so forcefully and give such tough rhetoric? If the answer is never, or 1950, then you might think we are headed into dangerous territory when it comes to tension and probability of violence. Only a complete idiot with no ability to learn or think would say that the last time is irrelevant.
To send a message, and what's that message? "If you don't behave, we will maul you; just look at our power!"
Well, YOU know that there's no viable military option. But that's worth exactly as much as it sounds because you don't know shit. Here's an article about what the people who matter thinks, and in case you can't read, they've presented military options to Trump (dated 2 weeks ago). Apparently, American generals don't think that there are no viable military options so your "opinion" can go drown itself. Check it out (like you should have done by yourself prior to this conversation).
If the US struck NK first, then China would be justified in defending NK, but that's not China's only option. If the US strikes NK, China could "help" the US by invading NK and taking it over so that it doesn't fall under US/SK control. Hey, China's helping occupy hostile territory so USA doesn't have to! What a great friend! LOL
You don't know what US generals and commanders say even though it's all over the news because it's your habit to enter conversations with no idea what you're talking about. This sentence admits it all.
And while I don't have a certificate or anything to represent everyone here LOL, I can see that your opinions have no likes (that's 0 likes) on any of the issues I've discussed with you which indicates that nobody here believes or agrees with you. And that you've got 59 likes out of 205 comments indicates that most of the things you write make no sense to anyone. See? That's called data extrapolation! It's a bit ambitious, though, for someone who can't even read the news before bumbling into conversations with no knowledge on the background.